Soho Peep Shows

In amongst the trendy cocktail bars and tourist strewn streets of Soho remain a few seedy establishments that ensure the red-lit, neon signed infamy the area is known for remains in good standing. Places that cater for the perverse, strange and deranged among the population of this fair City. For those of you who have walked past the "£2 Live Girls" signs and wondered just what on earth you would possibly find inside have a quick peep at the city's perverse side with Weekend Notes.

£2 Live Girls?

What can you get with £2 nowadays? Not a lot, you can't get a pint, you can't get lunch and it barely even covers a single tube journey between zones 1 and 2. However, what you can get is a "uniquely" visual live show that is certainly mind stimulating - to say the least. Because tucked into Tisbury Court you will find some delightfully perverse entertainment.

What's it like inside?

The best way it can be described inside is like an arcade with velvet curtains. You walked past the Nietzsche reading attendant – it is Soho after all - and as long as you don't visibly look like a serial killer, or are carrying some form of weaponry you are allowed in. The attendant also (and possibly only) proves useful when you need change. You then proceed to walk into a questionably smelling curtained stall where you are presented with a black wall with a window about 1 meter by 1 meter and an ancient looking coin slot. Slide your £2 into the slot and the show starts.

The Show

My first and thus far only visit was accompanied with a few friends, and as the first entered the curtained booth the immediate scream didn't bode well for the quality of the show. However, we all persevered and proceeded into our individual booths, the attendant insists – if he can be bothered. After you slide your money in the window opens and with it a strange and perverse show ensues. Essentially it's like peeping into a neighbours window who just so happens to be a fish-net clad dominatrix. The room is decorated circa 1960's and probably hasn't changed since then, but this of course is drawing the attention away from the central attraction, which is most likely the fully fledged naked woman. The show albeit brief, £2 gets you two minutes, is excessively explicit. A raw, sexual and physical show provided by a surprisingly attractive woman ensues and despite being separated by an enforced wall – it is Soho after all – the show is eye-contact-advertingly intimate, which brings me to the aforementioned scream, when my friend deposited his £2 "his girl" had her face pressed against the window… Yes, pretty pathetic.

In the end £2 is just enough cash to give you a seedy view into a side of London that those amongst us who consider themselves normal rarely get to see and the price is well worth it. If the live shows are a step too far for the more morally discerning or nervous amongst you there are still a plethora of adult themed book stores in the locale where you can indulge in the dark side under the guise of appreciating art.